Be Careful

duderino

duderino

New member
Recently, I tried to do a tour on the transam. The first week was awesome, but then I hurt my knee. Before I left, I read a lot of things saying not to worry about training to much and that you can train on the road. While this is mostly true, you should still try to be aware of your fitness level and factor in your age and other things. Also, I think if you're new to touring, you should plan an easy route without many climbs. Taking on the transam for my first tour might have been a little too ambitious for me. I thought I was taking it pretty easy only averaging 25 miles a day and taking rest days every other day. I was even avoiding climbs because I didn't feel ready to do them yet, so I either hitched or took the bus over them. Even though I was playing it safe, I developed tendonitis in my left knee after putting 150 miles in on my bike. It's not like I had a shitty bike either. I was stuck in eastern Oregon for a bit, and it sucked. Part of my problem I think was that I was overloaded. I started with over 50 pounds on my bike, and I had only ridden my bike loaded a couple times before I left and never did more than 5 or 6 miles. By the time I sent some stuff home, It was too late.

I'm now back at my parents house waiting for my knee to heal. My plan is to fly to Denver in a couple weeks and continue my ride from there. If my knee isn't healed by then, I will try to make my way across the country some other way. I'm also making some changes to my bike to make it easier to pedal. I just wanted to say be careful because all it takes is one little injury to either end or postpone a bike tour.
 
i agree, i had the same thing happen to me trying to bike down the coast of oregon last summer. no real injuries, but it was just miserable and the hills were way too intense. i agree that most people can do bike touring without much training, but i'm also getting kinda old and definitely fat, so i think i failed to account for that which led to a less than ideal time.
 
Matt Derrick said:
i agree, i had the same thing happen to me trying to bike down the coast of oregon last summer. no real injuries, but it was just miserable and the hills were way too intense. i agree that most people can do bike touring without much training, but i'm also getting kinda old and definitely fat, so i think i failed to account for that which led to a less than ideal time.
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I feel you on the old and fat thing. I feel like if I did this 5 years ago, I wouldn't have gotten hurt.
 
Dont give up but do take as many breaks as you nee. ,A year ago I (seemingly permanently) fucked up my wrist on a century because I didn't have drop bars and refused to listen to my crying wrist. The bones are out of place now and stick out at a shit angle. Repetitive activity can definitely fuck your body up more than wrecks. If you get a pain listen to it! Training can help you identify the weak areas. Wish you all the best and much love.
 
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